A lot’s happened in that time, and I’m still here. It’s the longest I’ve lived anywhere since I left home, which still feels very weird.

I keep on thinking about moving on (and, as I said in a previous post, right now I’m glad it hasn’t happened) and being somewhere new, but so far I haven’t found anywhere I really feel right about moving to.

I don’t know what the future will bring, or where it’ll find me, but for now well, eight years. Wow.

Here we are, at the end of 2013. It’s been an eventful old year, what with one thing and another.

In no particular order – and probably leaving out a load of lesser stuff – my 2013 has consisted of…

Having Mondeo kill itself in the outside lane of the M1 – always an interesting experience

Renting a Renault Megane for two weeks – the shittest car it’s ever been my displeasure to drive

Buying the Saab as a replacement for Mondeo, and it’s done well so far. Handing back the Megane was also an absolute joy

Countless meetings all over the country

Completing my bankruptcy period – it stays on the record for four more years, but it’s discharged now

Being made redundant from the job I started the year with

Going back to contracting and

getting the first job I applied for – indeed, they offered it to me at the interview, and wanted me to start immediately

And the second – although it turned out to be shit

And indeed the third – on that one they offered after phone interview, without even meeting me

Forming my new company, which will start trading from mid-January

Sorting out an ISA savings account – which actually has some money in it!

Continued writing, and getting some ideas out onto keyboard/paper – time will tell how successful that stays

Been able to purchase some stuff I didn’t have in the new house – like a proper bed-frame, etc.

Caught up with friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in far too long

Attended two weddings – and another one’s already booked for 2014

All told, it’s been pretty busy, somewhat hectic, highly changeable, and not a bad year at all. Sure, things could have been better/smoother, but when all things are considered, I’d say it’s been a positive year.

With those simple plans, I actually did OK over the last twelve months – and got a lot more stuff done besides.

For weighing less, I’ve lost just over a stone in the last year. Could be better, could be worse. I’ve monitored my food intake etc. over the year, and kept track of health/exercise/etc., but it’s not been as good as I wanted it to be either. Something to be continued with over the next year, anyway.

For writing more, that’s kind of worked and kind of hasn’t – it depends on what you class as ‘writing’. I’m writing more on D4D, and I’ve written some other pieces along the way (or at least started them, although I’ve also locked up on a couple when they’ve not worked out) so again, successful, but could do more.

I do feel that this last year has laid a lot of groundwork for the next year – I’m getting back into the swing of things, building up my own plans and routine, and generally feeling a lot more prepared for the coming year than I did this time last year.

With the job change, I’ve just regained about 2½ hours a day. My commute has gone from 45-50 minutes each way to 20-25, which gives me the best part of an hour straight away. However, I was getting to Cambridge 45-60 minutes early, and leaving 45 minutes late in order to avoid the really slow/shit traffic on the dire sections of road. So that’s another 90-105 mins regained too.

With that time, my primary aim is to get back into doing something healthier, the cycling, maybe some workout stuff as well. That’s the plan, anyway.

However, despite the new workplace being a lot closer, I’m not planning to aim (yet) for cycling to work and back. Even the shortest route is a ten-mile journey, and some of the roads are pretty dodgy. I might explore a bit, see how things, go, but for now that’s firmly in the “see what happens” side of the list.

When all’s said and done, I’m just glad to have the time back, alongside having a better contract that’s making me happier too. I don’t mind idiot commutes (as regular readers know anyway) when it’s a job I’m enjoying, and when I’m happier with how work is coming along. When it’s a shit job though, the crap commute just exacerbates everything, makes me even less happy, knowing that I’m wasting even more time, that the entire thing is just a faff, and one I can’t be arsed with. It also turns out that when I’m down about my work, it also has a lot of knock-on effects on other bits of my life, as well as my self-image/ego/whatever, which I plan to write more about for tomorrow.

So here we are, the start of the final quarter of 2013. Where has the year gone? It’s been pretty busy, but hard to believe that we’re already three-quarters of the way through the year.

Anyway, such is life. Onwards and upwards, and all that rot.

The final quarter of my 2013 is going to be used preparing for 2014 – at least that’s the intention so far. Whether or not it happens in the way I hope, well, time will tell.

The main things I want to do are about preparation, about going into 2014 with some finished developments, stuff to build on/from, and see what happens. There’s likely to be a fair dollop of work being done, and it feels like the right time to be doing it.

Along with the new contract, which should take me through to the end of the year, I also want to :

Form up a new limited company for some of the business stuff I’ve got in my head and…

Write the primary framework for at least one of the ideas

Write the primary business site to attract attention to the products

Possibly attend a couple of related exhibitions and trade-shows, in order to drum up some more interest

Also do some maintenance on stuff I’ve inherited (well, been asked to keep on working on) from Previous Employer

Get on with some writing – there’s one idea in particular I want to work on

Continue to work on the losing weight / gaining fitness thing

That’s the ideas, at least. It’s going to be a varied three months, I think, but that’s the basic framework…

I’ve had no bread at all – although I’ve not cut out pasta or other wheaty products as such – and honestly I’ve felt no change, and seen no changes or results. I’m going to keep on with it for a while more though.

I’ve certainly eaten better at work, mainly through getting back to eating stuff I’ve made at home and taking that in, rather than paying for it on a daily basis. I do need to find a balance here still, because as a contractor, it’s better for tax purposes (don’t ask) to buy something each day.

Exercise has been the big one. I’ve been out on the bike five times, and covered fifteen miles, there being a rather nice little three-mile circuit from home that works well for me. My times have dropped noticeably already – I’m using the Strava app on the phone to track things – and we’ll see how it goes. My leg muscles in particular hurt like buggery on a couple of occasions, which isn’t surprising considering that the last time I was cycling properly was in 2005 when I worked at CrapCo. But I’ll get better, get fitter, get faster. That’s the plan, anyway.

More importantly though, I’m quite enjoying it at the moment. I’m hoping to get into the routine before the nights draw in and the weather gets worse, so that then I’ll have even fewer excuses for not going. I have missed a couple of days this week- one through vile weather, another through being busy doing other stuff – but I can live with a five-out-of-seven plan for the moment.

So, as well as everything else, I’ve got a number of projects ongoing for which I’d now (I think) like to form a limited company again.

I know the company name is available, I already own the relevant domains etc. It’s just a question of whether I actually do go down the route of limited company – which has its own issues with paperwork, accounts etc. – or whether I just do it as a sole trader.

In general, I prefer the limited route, and I’m safe again to be a director now the Bankruptcy has discharged. But I need to decide which will work best, and how it will all combine to work. I know that with a Ltd. I can also use it for my contracting etc., although that tends to make the company very profitable very quickly. Might be a good thing, might not.

And of course some of it will also come down to whether any of the main banks will let me have a business bank account, what with only being a month out of Bankruptcy.

It makes more sense (kind of) to start on this kind of venture in January, start of a new year and all that. I need to think about all of these things for a while before making the decisions on where I’ll be heading. And that’s some of what this weekend will be about, I think.